March 3, Washington DC

The Sportfishing Conservancy participates in the White House Conference on Conservation

Teddy Roosevelt convened the very first White House Conference on Conservation a little over 100 years ago, calling together the emerging leaders in our nations conservation movement. Following in those hallowed footsteps, the Obama White House convened a 21st century White House Conservation Conference. Further raising the bar on conservation, President Obama personally took the time to address the Conference, underscoring his administrations strong commitment to conservation. The President spoke to not only the 450 in attendance, but to all American’s concerned about the health of our country. More importantly, both the President’s “America’s Great Outdoors Initiative” and National Ocean Policy help demonstrate his administration’s commitment to conservation.

The White House team has done a remarkable job bringing together leaders in conservation from all 50 states and beyond to interact with one-another. Fittingly, the conference took place at the Department of the Interior in downtown Washington D.C. where Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, co-hosted the event. Each individually addressed the conference, then hosted panels specific to the agenda. Those in attendance included dedicated individuals along with the leaders of our country’s foremost conservation organizations including the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Project and The Sportfishing Conservancy.

“The White House Conference on Conservation highlighted much of the great work that the Obama administration has done for conservation and also pointed out areas where we still must concentrate our efforts” said Tom Raftican, President of the Sportfishing Conservancy. “While the National Oceans Policy and America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, show that the administration not only talks the talk, but walks the walk, it’s still nice to hear it directly from the boss” he added.

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The No Motor Tournament is held in Carpenteria, California. The main rule is contestants use only "human power" to fish; catch and release is highly encouraged...More